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tv   Americas Newsroom  FOX News  January 7, 2013 6:00am-8:00am PST

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secretary of defense invites conflict because bulllies don't respect weakness. >> reporter: hagel's defenders point to his two purple hearts in vietnam. >> chuck hagel is a tremendous patriot and statesman. served incredibly in vietnam. served this country as a united states senator. he hasn't had a chance to speak for himself. so why all the prejudging i don't know. >> reporter: the senate has only rejected nine cabinet nominees since 1834. the last time that they rejected a nominee from a president was in 1989 with john tower who was also up for secretary of defense, bill. bill: who are the leading contenders now for cia director, jennifer? >> reporter: mike morale, for one, the acting director of. cia is being considered. they are settling on john brennan, the chief counterterrorism advisor to the president. he has been very close to
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the president the past four years. he is the white house choice to replace david petraeus. brennan will face serious questions about his role in the cia enhanced teartation techniques program, other controversial bush era programs. this is the reason brennan with drew his name as possible cia director in 2008. brennan has been noticeably absent of any public discussions about benghazi which he is likely to face tough scrutiny, bill. bill: a lot of questions. jennifer, thank you. we await the announcement from the north lawn there. martha has more. martha: as jennifer was just reporting hagel is drawing controversyal attention in terms of votes and statements he made in the past. he was one of only two senators to vote against the iran-libya sanctions act in 2001 arguing it would undercut efforts he felt to engage with tehran. mr. hagel also raised some eyebrows with comments he made in 1999 explaining his opposition to lifting the
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ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. here is a quote. the u.s. armed forces are not some social experiment. no doubt that comment will get more discussion as he heads into hits hearings. bill: one of the big questions you will hear about, is chuck hagel nt anti-israel? we'll ask one of the more prominent voteses in the pro-israeli community. we have the head of the anti-defamation league. we'll talk to him at 9:30 a.m. eastern time. martha: fox news alert. the possibility of broad new gun control laws coming your way. the white house is considering multiple new regulations that go way beyond just a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, much discussed in the wake of what happened in newtown, connecticut of course. now according to "the washington post" democrats want universal background checks and a national database that would track all gun sales. they also want to strengthen mental health checks and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools
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or giving them to minors. this obviously comes in the wake of that horrific story carried out about three weeks ago in newtown connecticut. but many lawmakers say this proposal they believe, does not solve the issues at hand and it goes too far. republican senator ted cruz says that the newtown tragedy is being exploited he feels. >> within minutes we saw politicians run out and try to exploit this tragedy, try to push their political agenda of gun control. i do not support their gun control agenda for two reasons. number one, it is unconstitutional. >> is there any that you would accept? >> i don't think the proposals being discussed now make sense. martha: president obama may be facing opposition from his own party on this as well. democratic senator heidi heitkamp on this. >> i think you need to put everything on the table but what i hear from the administration and if "the washington post" is to be believed, that is way, way in extreme of what i think is necessary or even should
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be talked about and it's not going to pass. martha: heitkamp says that the administration needs to focus on mental health care first before starting a debate on gun control. bill: if true the new gun control push comes in stark contrast to president obama's position back in 2008 when candidate obama promised he would protect the rights of all gun owners. >> so i don't want any misunderstanding when, y'all go home and you're talking to your buddies say, ah, he wants to take my gun away. you've heard it here. i'm on television so everybody knows it. i believe in the second amendment. i believe in people's lawful right to bear arms. i will not take your shotgun away. i will not take your rifle away. i won't take your happened gun away. bill: so that was september of 2008. of course on the trail that was when candidate obama was trying to get elected. more on this in a fair and balanced debate over what can get done and what will not get through.
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have that for you later in the hour. meanwhile the debate over guns in this country having a huge impact on gun sales. according to data, just released by the fbi, december saw the most background checks for gun sales since the agency's current system was in place in 1988. overall gun checks surged by 19% in 2012 from the previous year. potential gun buyers have been flocking to gun shows in record numbers all across the country since the shooting in newtown, connecticut, possibly worried about new restrictions in the coming months. >> we know that there's going to be some new laws. so, i kind of put it off and put it off until now. now, you know, we went through and came down here to get what we wanted before everything is illegal. bill: gun shows on the whole facing controversy. recent shows in the northeast were canceled following the newtown shooting, also angering gun advocates. martha: let's go back to
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d.c. now and the battle over taxes and spending and the nation's crushing debt. top democrats are now signaling they want to go back and get more of your money in the debt ceiling debate that is coming, despite the fiscal cliff deal that saw taxes go up 77% of americans. nancy pelosi says it is not enough money really that was garnered through that deal but republicans vehemently disagree. they say it is time to get serious about cutting spending. watch some of this. >> in this legislation we get $620 billion, very significant, high-end tax, changing the high-end tax rate to 39.6% but that is not enough on the revenue side. >> the tax issue is finished, over, completed. that's behind us. now the question is, what are we going to do about the biggest problem confronting our country and our future and that's our spending addiction. it is time to confront it. martha: all right.
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joined by charles payne, fox business network contributor. charles, good morning. >> good morning. >> good to talk to you. what is your reaction to that back and forth? >> listen, martha, we know they're setting up for the battles, debt ceiling, sequestration and even the continuing resolution. it is interesting on a deal almost everyone agrees white house won big-time, 40 to one ratio from taxes to spending cuts. it is interesting to hear nancy pelosi the language around this. the suggestion this deal only impacted so-called wealthiest people, families making 450,000 or more when in fact everyone watching this show probably got a check on friday that was a lot less than they anticipated just a couple weeks ago. what i really am concerned about is the idea if you want more revenue, where are you getting from if you want to tax more? even with this deal, talk about some of the things we don't talk about a lot. for instance, personal exemptions are being removed. if you have a family ma 250,000 or more, you lose that exemption.
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if you have two, father and mother, two kids, that is about over 4% percentage point tax hike on you. if you have four kids, that is 6 percentage points. in other words everyone is already seeing their taxes go higher. if they want to get to the 1.6 trillion number president obama has talked about they will have to find inventive ways of taxing everyone watching this show. martha: i've been away. so i was catching up on all of this over the last several days, really taking a look at it and one thing i found really surprising and shocking in many ways what you heard from conservatives before the fiscal cliff deal they wanted to do real tax reform. they wanted to see deductions, loopholes, eliminated flat own out the tax code and garner more revenue and spur on new business in this country. so now what i'm hearing is, the deal that you say, conservatives found to be really, you know, bad deal that was made for them on the fiscal cliff. now the talk is from nancy pelosi. go back. now we'll talk about
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deductions and loopholes on top of that. >> exactly. i think republicans as mitt romney was running for president thought, it would be an alternative to tax increases not in addition to tax increase. >> you know, what, charles? is that a good argument for held the line? is the lesson from this, now the door is open and every single cow will be encouraged to come out of the barn? >> absolutely although hindsight is 20/20. a lot of the cows are out of the barn. i'm sure if they go back all over again no way in the world boehner could agree to this sort of a deal i think. now they have the same public relations campaign with respect, do we use the debt ceiling as the battleground for this? i don't know they have the stomach for that. sequestration. who cares more about defense spending, republicans or democrats? continuing resolution might be a place where they draw a line in the sand. it is pretty clear this is certainly a bill that is tilted heavily toward what the president wanted and the
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only area he gave was maybe some on the revenue side. they're coming back. people should be very worried about in i kind of deal you see they go after, let's say, oil conditions or any of these kind of things. martha: right. >> those will be covers, smoke screens. they will be small, drop in the bucket, small potato things. behind them could be serious taxes that impact everybody. talking about people making less than $100,000 a year. be very wary, because that is exactly what happened in the fiscal cliff deal. martha: nancy pelosi, entitlements, we did that. we already reformed entitlements when we did the health care bill. >> she was also agnostic where the money comes from which scares the heck out of me. martha: charles, happy new year. >> good to see you. bill: we loaded up a packed show. martha: thank you. bill: all the news comes rolling back. get ready to reach in your wallets and pay more for your health insurance. the new health care law was supposed to keep premiums under control. why are some states bracing
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for double-digit increases again? we'll tell you. martha: how about this. we'res facing one of the worst flu seasons in history. thousands reportedly in the hospital. why is it so bad this year? bill: it sure is bad. plus a melee empties out of a shopping mall. we'll show you video of a flashmob that went horribly wrong here. [shouting] eat good fats.
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thank you. ♪ bill: new fallout from the president's health care law. insurance rates set to spike across the country, in some places by double digits. look at some of increase we've seen so far in the past year. florida, 20%. ohio, 20% plus. out in california, at a minimum for some folks it is 20% plus. many increases hit small businesses an individuals. if the law was supposed to lower costs why is this happening now? we'll talk about that with matt mccall, president of penn financial group here in new york. in washington, stephen moore, senior writer for "the wall
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street journal." good morning to both of you. matt, first to you here in new york, why is this happening? >> the whole obamacare plan was to lower costs as you just mentioned. reason this will go up everyone will vilify the health insurance companies. health costs are going up so the insurance companies are forced to pass them on to you and i as individuals. the reason costs are going up, suddenly the system is being flooded by new people obamacare wants to get in there. aim maybe a person healthy doesn't pay that much or two to the doctor often is now paying much more because the health care system is flooded with so many people. bill: stephen moore, has this failed already? >> it certainly is off to a poor start, isn't it? i am wondering whether a lot of americans are seeing that they got a false bill of goods. during obamacare, the whole discussion how it would lower costs. remember the president saying it would save the average american family several thousand dollars a
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year. we're already seeing several thousand dollars a year increases. here is where the rubber meets the road on this issue, bill. i predict you will start seeing next three months, six months, a year, a lot of employers, tens of thousands of them around the country dropping employer health care plans because they can't afford it anymore. they can't make profits at the same time so much of their money is going out in health care costs. what that means, people who have health care policies, that they like right now, may lose them exactly the opposite of what obamacare promised. bill: to be clear about what we're talking about here, not many of the stuff goes towards small businesses and individuals seeking their own plan. what the health care industry is saying we need the rates to even come reasonably close to covering the expenses of the population. that is their defense. >> exactly. as i mentioned earlier that is a good defense because really you do have to meet it. they will hammer the health insurance companies. the left will hammer that as well. when you try to get across 1,
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14% increases a year with inflation at 2% that is absolutely absurd. how can health care costs six times the amount of inflation? it doesn't make sense when you add it up. the problem is, if you do the numbers the way obamacare has, forced the health care system to do business, these numbers are real. steve's right. you were sold a bill of goods. these numbers are real. the health insurance companies are against the wall. they must pass on the cost. bill: what does it do to uncertainty for business plans, stephen moore? >> this is one of the biggest problems of all, bill. i saw a rasmussen poll a couple weeks ago, showed something like 75 to 80% of small businesses don't understand this bill. they don't understand how it works. they're completely confused how the health care system is going to affect their bottom line. one of the things you have to remember, all of these popular features about the bill, 26-year-olds can get insurance under their parents health care system, free birth control, all of these other kinds of things, those actually, somebody has to pay for that, bill,
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right? there is no free lunch here. that is what we're seeing in the higher premium costs. what i think it will mean, people will lose their health insurance. they will not gain it. bill: i hope you're wrong about that. matt, i will of about you the last word because what the law talks about in some cases to have a federal review that controls the rate of increase. some states that is in place. other states it is not. and what the insurance folks talk about, that is a giant loophole in the law. >> because in new york it is in place. new york can cap how much insurance companies increase. bill: california, it is not. >> california is in bigger trouble than any state in the union they can not. you're really getting penalized what state you live in. this health care plan is complete mess. bill: more to talk about on this as we move forward. thank you, matt mccall, thank you, steve moore in washington, d.c. here is martha with more. martha: i hate to tell you this flu season is hitting harder and earlier this year. a severe strain of the virus making its way across the
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bill: there is a scene from baton rouge, louisiana, over the weekend a massive brawl. in the middle of a shopping mall food court. police think a flashmob, fueled by social media posts drew people there the involved more than 200 teens and state police brought in to help bring control. no injuries were reported. not a lot of shopping done either. baton rouge. martha: bill hemmer, listen up. a flu outbreak is sweeping the nation weeks before the peak of average flu season. according to the cdc cases in the u.s. jumped last week
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alone. more than 2200 people have been hospitalized since the start of the flu season. 3/4 of those saying they were not vaccinated, hello, bill. 41 cases reported cases. dr. stephen garner from methodist hospital. i'm going fast because this is a bad one. >> this is unpredictable, from what we're seeing people are sicker than ever. martha: if you were vaccinated, chances are if you get it, you will get it less worse. >> the vaccine protects you 60% of the time. it wouldn't pass a test put not a bad thing. 60% won't get it and rest get lessened symptoms. martha: show me what you have in terms of prevention and protection for people. >> to carry the purell around. not as good as ivory soap it is not bad. you will not carry around water and soap. particularly on the subway. flu goes to surfaces. average adult touches his nose and eyes eight team --
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18 times in an hour. very easy to transmit it. face mask, drugstore, hardware store, ask for n-95. martha: has to say n-95 on the back elsewhere you're not doing anything. >> like wear it in the house if your family is sick. gloves. i can't stress. one of the ways you get the flu you touch a surface someone else touched and put it to your nose and mouth. you're contagious a day before you show symptoms. somebody in the house could be walking around, everything is great and give them high-fives and you give them the flu. martha: chocolate. >> this was in the bag. no, chocolate is making you feel a little better. such a bad thing this flu. the kids under the age of five are the ones who are dying. you have 18 deaths already that could have been prevented. pregnant women should get the shot. martha: should people get it right now if they haven't gotten it yet. >> i could come here and give him a shot tomorrow if
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he volunteers. martha: you hear that, bill? dr. garner is giving you a shot. most of us got them here at work. >> one out of four have a bad reaction. martha: get your shot and protect yourself if you haven't already. bill: wicked strain going around. martha: i got a candy bar which i think has some connection to preventing the flu. my favorite kind. bill: former senator chuck hagel getting ready for a very hot seat. critics say he is too hard on israel and too soft on its enemies. we'll ask one of israel's biggest supporters about that. martha. martha: white house weighing gun control restrictions far beyond anything we've seen in the past. is this the best way to keep americans safe. >> the 80 million plus gun owners of america are concerned because of that tragedy, enemies of lawful gun ownership are using that tragedy to attempt to pass
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martha: we're getting some new reaction from the expected nomination of former senator chuck hagel to be the nation's next secretary of defense. some lawmakers are outraged saying that hagel has a troubling record with our ally israel. >> he has not been a friend to israel and in my view, united states should stand
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unshakenably with the side of israel. and he consistently advocated weakness with respect to our enemies. with respect to the nation of iran he opposed sanctions over and over again. the job of the secretary of defense is to be a serious credible strength and deterrent and unfortunately i think weakness in a secretary of defense invites conflict because bullies don't respect weakness. martha: very strong statements there by the new senator, ted cruz. our next guest we believe probably would agree with that statement based on what he said and that hagel's comments on israel are disturbing. abe foxman head of the anti-defamation league. >> good morning good to be with you. martha: go ahead. >> i think at the outset we should really say that senator hagel is a great american patriot. he is a great public servant but that doesn't necessarily mean he is the best choice to be secretary of state.
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or secretary of defense. i think the president of course has the prerogative to appoint whom he wants but this appointment raises a lot of questions because senator hagel's positions are so much out of step and out of sync and out of line with the president's positions. when the confirmation hearing occurs i think we'll have an opportunity, and senator hagel will have an opportunity to explain, to convince, to reassure the american people that some of the positions which he has taken are either not his positions now or that they may have been misunderstood. but unless he does that convincingly i am not, i am not convinced. >> well-put. let's put up the quote that raised a lot of eyebrows and is one component of people's issues here and this is from chuck hagel in an interview that he did with david aaron miller. he says, the jewish lobby
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intimidates a lot of people up here but i'm a united states senator. i'm not an israeli senator. he later said that, you know, he had some regrets about that statement. he should have said the israeli lobby. what do you think about that comment and how reflective is it, in your opinion, based on his attitude and stance towards israel? >> well he certainly is not an anti-semite but that choice of words, here's a man who has been in washington, who lives with interest groups. why single out the israel interest group lobbying such an aggressive way? so if an american congressman or senator urges for a special relationship with israel, does that make him a senator from israel? i find the words troubling. i find the attitude, what i would call the gestalt, troubling, since the support of israel has been frequently been spotty or tepid and i'm looking for a
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clear explanation. i don't think the change of word from jewish to israel not o know why was this in his gut? why is this the only lobby that he finds so distressing and troubling in a city where lobbies are part of the american system? martha: one of the most obvious sort of concerns of israel would be how tough defense secretary hagel would be on iran. tell me what you see in his background that, you know, gives us a view into how tough he would be on them. >> well, he is soft on iran. he is opposed to sanctions. he has been opposed to sanctions across the board. he's urged dialogue with hamas, with hezbollah. again i find it strange that these are positions so much at odds with the bosses of president obama. he is for strong sanctions. he has put a military option on the table. he's, he is challenged hamas
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and hezbollah as terrorist organizations and yet his choice, one of his, one of the two most important choices in foreign policy and national security still has a record of trying to explain away why we should talk to hamas and hezbollah and why sanctions may not work. martha: so why do you think he picked them then? >> well, we'll find out hopefully during the hearings. martha: abe foxman, bringing up a lot of the issues we will no doubt hear in the hearing process. chuck hagel has been vetted many times for different positions and now the president signaled he would like him to be his defense secretary. what kind of a signal does that send to the world if he is approved. thank you, mr. foxman. thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. bill: see that at 1:00 later today with megyn. controversy of a different sort in the nfl playoffs. the redskins losing their wildcard game to the seattle
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seahawks 24-14. they started so hot. many are asking this morning if their superstar rookie quarterback, robert -- robert gave fin the third should have been in the came. he went down injuring his knee trying to field that bad snap. that thing was shaking back and forth. tough to watch. redskins coach mike shanahan facing a heap of criticism for allowing his star quarterback playing hurt and team doctor says he is not quite sure he should have been out there in the first place. he will get an mri today. as for the baltimore ravens they rolled on indianapolis colts at home. andrew luck, a terrific season but that is over now. that sets up a showdown with tom brady and the new england patriots next week. if your team won, like mine did, i could have told you as much, but i held out hope at the very end. martha: there is always hope. bill: there is always next year. maybe not. >> there is always next year
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for your bengals. bill: thanks. martha: we'll talk about that a little more coming up with jim gray. switching gears to hockey, folks are you excited? hockey season is back on bill. bill: are they still playing the sport? martha: yes they're still playing. a lot of excitement at my house yes endied there was a deal after 100 days of a nhl lockout. players and owners reached a tentative deal that either side can terminate in eight years. fans reacting to the long-awaited news on this one. >> feels a little cheated as a fan it took so long to come to an agreement that seems pretty simple to figure out and issues seem kind of small but we only know what we know and they obviously knew more than we did and i'm glad they were able to get it done and not cancel another season. i don't know if they could recover from that kind of damage. martha: last thing they needed was not to be playing for the first half of the season. they don't get a lot of love as it is on the national sports scene.
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they will be back at it. the salary cap for upcoming season will be $70 million and will go down to 64 million in the next year. that should cover dental work very well. bill: right on. maybe should become a hockey fan. martha: it is fun. it is a great sport. bill: next weekend, houston goes to new england for the brady rematch when pats blew them out a couple weeks ago. martha: you betcha. bill: tonight, alabama, notre dame. national championship. martha: who are you rooting for? bill: will cheer for notre dame because they're nine 1/2 underdog. martha: yea applause in the back of the room. bill: could be the most watched football game. martha: i will cheer for noter daem as well. go irish. bill: terror suspect hiding overseas now in cuffs here in the u.s. the suspected al qaeda operative accused planning attacks in the new york city subway system set to face a judge. we'll tell you about that meeting. martha: this is getting a ton of attention. new gun control laws may be in the works.
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joe biden is working on this commission. what will he want now from gun owners? >> i think the federal government has any business having a list of law-abiding citizens who choose to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. what are you doing? nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground
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martha: well, it is a big step forward for some victims of hurricane sandy. residents in seaside heights, new jersey, will finally after all this time be able to return to their homes today. officials say over 100 certificates have already been granted deeming the homes now safe to live in. those residents were told they don't have to abide by a 10:00 p.m. cure few anymore. -- cure. we wish them well. bill: gun control laws possibly going to a whole new level? white house is going way beyond reinstating the law ban on assault weapons. universal background checks on gun buyers and movement and sale of weapons through
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aings national database. kirsten powers, tony sayegh, former press aide to republican vice-presidential nominee jack kemp and. welcome to both of you. strengthen mental health checks. strengthen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors. so the list is broad. tony, can this pass. >> it will be tough, bill. one of the misconceptions about gun control is a very partisan issue. it is regional issue. you heard heidi heitkamp from north dakota. seven democratic senators from pro-gun states including mark begich from kirsten's home state of alaska, pro-gun. and leaders like mr. baucus, from montana. from a pro-gun. he is up for re-election in 2014. these you will not be senators that take this vote likely and go on board with
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it because it will be the cause and issue for the home. it will be tough because they have to buck their state's interests. bill: kirsten, do you agree. >> i guess the question is what is so radical about a universal background check? i think it is true any of these senators might oppose taking away guns but i don't know why they would oppose a universal background check. bill: what is a universal background check? what does that require? >> i think it remains to be seen because we already have background checks that are fairly comprehensive. one of the problems and hopefully something they will look at, is the fact that the database actually isn't that great. where you have actually people who have been flagged as being mentally ill and get guns and commit atrocious crimes. that needs to be updated. but i think the idea of seeing people who --. bill: then we can go on all the categories. heidi heitkamp of north dakota said it will not even place.
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>> it will be difficult because not these are pro-gun states. more because the nra is so powerful and basically try to destroy anybody that supports any kind of even reasonable gun control. none of these politicians will come out and say that but that is the bottom line. they know if they come out against they will be bombarded by ads from the nra. bill: tony. >> i think with all due respect that is over simplification. nra is not a partisan, one party organization. they support a whole lot of democrats. if you look at rahm emanuel, the mayor of chicago who was obama's chief of staff, when he was head of dccc he actively recruited pro-gun demonstrates from pro-gun districts because this is really a regional issue. so what you are going to have right now, not people who are against sensible reforms, and i agree, many of these are sensible. we have already background checks. let's enforce those. bill: you have them a lot of places. if it were passed in federal
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law would have to do it in every state. that is the assumption we're working off this definition. >> sure. bill: tried to figure out what it meant earlier today. don't know if that means criminal record. whether you have a drug past or on medications. >> i want to be clear. i never argued that the nra is a partisan organization. the nra, and i also don't think the nra is representative of being pro-gun. i'm pro-gun. i don't, like --. bill: alaska girl. >> i grew up in a house filled with guns. i learned to shoot when i was young. i don't, nra is on a different level. they go after both parties. that is not a republican organization. bill: your argument, the administration is going to make. they are going to say you need a comprehensive solution to help prevent things like that from happening again. >> that's right, they do. bill: can they sell that. >> that is absolutely true. one of my concerns they're trying to sell gun control as some sort of a panacea. they say let's have this comprehensive solution, looking at violence in entertainment culture and
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mental health and school safety and clinton era position that would deputize people to have a firearm they're only giving specific ideas of changing gun control laws. its much more comprehensive solution. we need to hear what that includes. bill: more than a 30 round clip. kirsten, give you the last word. >> i agree you have to look at mental health issue and not separate it. it is probably the more important issue than gun laws. separately they will focus a lot of time on that. republicans are open to spending even more money on that issue. bill: kirsten, thank you. miss fairbanks chimes in today. brave lady. thank you, tony. good to see both of you. hemmer@foxnews.com is the e-mail. also on twitter @billhemmer. follow me there and shoot a question you want to be asked about this issue or anything else that's on your mind today, because you asked, bya online right now. martha. martha: we're expecting a major makeover for the president's national security team. we discussed chuck headache
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gel but john brennan is also being tapped to run the cia, a position he asked last time around not to be considered for but now he looks like the man. why this nomination could put a spotlight on the administration's drone program. bill: also google this. what's the head of that company doing in north korea? eric submit, bill richardson, they are tourists or is there more to it? >> the purpose of the visit is, it's a private, humanitarian mission. we're going to make an assessment of the north korean economic, political situation. your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do. face time and think time make a difference. at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing. [ bop ] [ bop ] [ bop ] you can do that all you want, i don't like v8 juice.
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[ male announcer ] how about v8 v-fusion. a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruit. but what you taste is the fruit. so even you... could've had a v8.
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bill: new this morning a stranded ship moving yet again. a salvage team in alaska. we watched this last week, remember? they started towing an oil
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drilling ship that ran aground near a remote island. there is no sign of any oil leaking from the vessel. it is being towed to seattle, that is a long way, when it broke loose during a powerful storm on new year's eve. martha: how about this? in norta where google chairman, eric schmidt and long time-diplomat and new mexico governor, bill richardson have arrived together. schmidt is the highest corporate executive to visit north korea. the whole thing raises concerns for the state department. greg palkot is live for us in london. greg, what do you think about this trip? what are you learning? report rrt martha, it irunusual group and unusual group and i can say from experience an unusual place. richardson has been there several times. he dealt with political issues. he helped to get american nationals out of there held by the government.
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eric schmidt may be more noteworthy. he has an obvious interest in the role internet plays in shaping society maybe in a place as secretive as north korea. here is a bit of what richardson had to say about the visit. >> this is a private, humanitarian visit. we're here as individual american citizens, looking at the humanitarian situation. >> reporter: now the state department has said flatly the timing of this visit is not helpful. it comes less than a month after north korea's controversial at sight -- satellite launch which washington says was a conner for international ballistic missile test. he will tree to get released a core reason-american held since december, a re ladies and gentlemen just activist that was arrested after touring there. martha: we looked at the missile video. over all situation and north korea and our situation with them.
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how about that? >> reporter: all of this toms at a time, martha, where kim jong-un is making the motions for a little bit of a freer society. he gave a new year's address said to be relatively conciliatory. he cited science and technology as a means to improve the economy. from what we've seen, martha, he and google's schmidt might have their work cut out for them. we were brought to what appeared to be internet center at at library. it was a really a intranet center. few people in north korea have a access to the worldwide web. we saw mobile phones out on street in pyongyang. however the hitch is the mobile phones don't connect outside of north korea. those phones, not too smart. martha: we've seen the way cell phones can really change a country in so many ways when it becomes open to the rest of the world. that may not be something north korea would like to see in the cards for them. greg, thanks very much. bill: one intriguing trip.
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a new york congressman says he wants to get rid of presidential term limits. so we see another three-term commander-in-chief? martha: plus the more the debt clock spins the more we owe. look at that big fat number this morning. deeper debt in this country we think into. democrats say they will need a little bit more of your money though to start paying that down. brit hume on that next.
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martha: fox news alert, digging in their heels the lawmakers are for the next major debt battle with the fiscal cliff in the rear view mirror for now. both part tears ar parties are bracing for a fight to borrow more money. brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." good to have you here. i'm martha maccallum. >> i'm bill hemmer. welwelcome back again, martha. bill: democrats signaling they want more taxes on the table. republicans say it's time to seriously focus on the runaway
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spending in washington d.c. >> we have to stop the madness. this is the 18-year-old kid on the credit card and they maxed out the credit card, instead of cutting them up and put them on a budget barack obama says give us a new credit card and says you don't have to pass a budget for three years. that's crazy. bill: president obama says he will not bulge. >> if congress refuses to give the united states the ability to pay its bills on time the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic. martha: he says that's that. the president is not going there, so don't even talk about it. let's talk about it with brit hume fox news senior political analyst. good morning, sir, happy new year, good to see you. >> thank you, same to you. martha: it seems those who are thrusting their fist against the wall and talking about spending as we saw from congressman jordan there are getting
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nowhere. >> look in the battle over this last round the president really had the high cards, and he had the high cards for one reason, one principle reason, and that is that the tax rates were set to go up by law, and did go up by law on the 1st of january. so that was a powerful fact on his side, and gave the republicans very limited leverage on what they could achieve. this time around it's a little different. the tax increase on upper incomes that was imposed by the law and left in place on january 1st allows the republicans to argue that the tax increases are over. not only that, martha, because the payroll tax went up as well, every american who works is feeling that his or her taxes have gone up. along comes the president saying, no, no, we need more new taxes. well that argument doesn't have the same strength that let's tax the rich had. they are going to say let's tax the rich again, but i don't
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think the argument has as much force. the other thing is that the debt limit fight dash tkarbt president needs to be able to keep borrowing to finance the government. he needs the debt limit increase. he says he won't negotiate over it but if congress doesn't pass it he's going to be in a pickle. congress may get a lot of the blame, it always does, but it's something he has to have and it gives them at least some leverage. i'm not saying they are going to get everything they want out of it but they are coming in and saying raising the debt limit is unpopular and the republicans are august aoug for dollar per tkaorg penned sping cut republicans are asking for dar for dar. martha: the discussion about loopholes and deductions that was the conservative solution the first time around on the fiscal cliff they wanted to do tax reform and even things out as a way to get revenue.
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now we looking at that possibility coming on top of the tax increases that that part of the population already incurs, and then added on top of it. it's mind boggling -- >> they want to reform the tax code now as a way to get more revue. republicans will be perfectly happy to reform the tax code in a way that allows the rates to go down. the president at one time or another has spoken in favor of that himself, and so did the fabled bowles-simpson commission. but my sense about that ace that that is not an argument that will be that easy for the president to win because it's more new taxes. look, if the president thought that being in favor of new taxes for everybody, or even for anybody, was all that popular he won't have gone along with the idea of making nearly all the bush tax cuts permanent. they recognize there is power in this antitax feeling, particularly after a tax increase has just taken effect.
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martha: it's going to be very interesting. thank you so much, bret, good to see you. bill: when you look at the amount of debt we are in as a nation, it is staggering. the total now about $16.4 trillion and counting. it's spiked by nearly $6 trillion by president obama's tenure in the white house. that is more debt than any president has seen through bill clinton. the past years the nation's department has been growing at an average of 121 bill kwropb dollarkwropb per month and still counting. >> hillary clinton is back at work after an illness that left her sidelined. she is meeting with people in washington. she was hospitalized september 30th after doctors discovered a blood clot after a concussion she sustained in a fall. she was treated with blood
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thinners to dissolve that clot. back to work at the state department. >> u.s. officials dismissing bashar al-assad's statement as meaning lease to cling to power. what did president bashar al-assad say for the first time in several weeks. >> essentially the president said the same old thing we've been hearing for a longtime. i'm going to stay in power, we are at war and it's time for syrians to fight for their country. he proposed a peace plan which everyone else laughed at because they said it involved bashar al-assad staying in power, and they say it showed that bashar al-assad had lost touch with reality. this is bashar al-assad very much in control. he has a lot of supporters there in the damascus opera house there in the capitol from which he was speaking, a lot of applause there and was speaking live on state television. his detractors will say what
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what they will, but many people have predicted bashar al-assad's demise over the past 18 or 20 months, they say his days are over. this is a president very much in control of his capitol and much of his country, bill. bill: does that speech change anything on ground, leland. >> reporter: not rile the violence continues. the one thing that bashar al-assad did talk about is a need for his army to continue to night and that is exactly what they are doing. if anything the rebels' momentum as of late has slowed or perhaps stopped. the one thing we saw president bashar al-assad do is give up a lot of indefensible areas, areas he didn't care about, especially in the north. the rebels haven't been able to make inch roads either in damascus or other important towns there for bashar al-assad. and now it looks like the army maybe regrouping and try to regain some of the areas that they have lost. what we might see bill is something a little bit like what happened in the very beginning of libya in the sense that the rebels carve out a relative safe
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area and all of a sudden the army goes in and tries to systematically retake those areas. bill: something to watch again. leland vittert thank you. very unusual to hear bashar al-assad speak an has now. martha: fox news alert a blockbuster settlement stemming from the 2008 housing collapse. bank of america has a tkpraoed tagreed to pay more than $10 million on fanny mae on loans sold by the bank in its countrywide unit. most of the money will buyback mortgages at a restaurant from its original value. countrywide was at the time a giant in mortgage lending but it was also known foray proving many, many risky loans. bill: a bit of a rough weekend for senator rand paul after his son was arrested and charged with underage drinking and disorderly conduct. 19-year-old william hilton paul was arrested saturday morning at collar lot douglas international
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airport after allegedly getting drunk on a flight from lexington, kentucky, to charlotte, north carolina. brief statement from the senator, he skid the situation that one that quote many parents with teenager would understand. he went onto say we beg of your privacy at the moment. apparently served on board the plane is what they believe happened there from lexington. martha: surprising. you think that would be tough to do. i have to agree with them, leave the kids alone. these things happen and we wish them well and hopefully they can resolve the situation within the family. president obama breaking a big pledge from his 2008 campaign, why major corporate donations to his second inauguration are now coming under fire. bill: tensions rising over the handling of a high school rape investigation. why protestors say a local sheriff is trying to shield a high school football team. is that true? we'll talk to a lawyer for one of the accused. martha: could lance armstrong be getting ready to come clean about doping?
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a lot of controversy over whether or not that is so, why the disgraced psychist i cyclist is reportedly considering a confession. we'll talk about that. this was the hole my waist was on. but since i've been on alli, am i on this one? nope. am i on this one? no, no, no, no, no. i am on this one. [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocng some of the fat you eat. simple. effective. belt-friendly. let's fight fat with alli. learn more, lose more at letsfightfat.com.
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martha: president obama could run for a third term in 2016 if one congressman gets his way. new york democrat jose serrano is again proposing an amendment to the constitution that would do away with presidential term limits. don't hold your breath on this one. none of the congressman's eight proposals to do the same thing have ever made to it a floor vote. the congressman proposed doing away with presidential term limits even when george w. bush was in the white house. it seems to be one of his favorite things to do. he's not getting anywhere so far, though. bill: fox news alert the
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headlines for the day a nomination battle is looming in washington. president obama getting set to unveil the rest of his new national security team. the white house saying the president will nominate former republican senator chuck hagel to be his next defense secretary and john brennan to run the cia, both considered somewhat controversial picks and will face a sufficient confirmation process. what challenges will the new national security team face. general jack keane ace former four-star general and fox news military analyst. how are you doing, general, and good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: some of the controversy stems from republicans and democrats who don't like hagel's record on israel. with regard to brennan sue apparently he supported enhanced interrogation techniques during the bush years. so that will be a focus during this. when you look at the world this is an entirely dove your
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national security team, with john kerry, possibly, john brennan and chuck hagel that i just mentioned. what do you believe, or what do you list as the greatest challenge facing this in national security now, general. >> first of all we have a war we are finishing in afghanistan. there are a couple of key decisions that the national security team will be advising the president on. one will be what is the size and scope of the force we'll leave behind and will we leave behind a force and not do what we did in iraq which is remove the force entirely. two, how much shoeport are we going to provide to the afghan security forces so they can sustain their operations without us? i think the major issue is the middle east itself. and that is clearly the rice of radical islam in the middle east. they are taking advantage of the con tours of revolutionary change that are unfolding right before our eyes. there are governments in transition. there are others that are destabilized and others are on
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the precipice. jordan and kuwait. we are very much aware of what happened in libya and egypt, we have a major challenge unfolding in front of our eyes in syria. they have to make up their minds whether they will sit on the fence in syria or take a hand on it and try influence the outcome. bill: you do not know the outcome in syria, but do you have a sense, based on the list of nominees about how they would handle this? >> i think they'll execute president obama's foreign policy, which i believe unstated is to disengage from the middle east and to be as minimally involved as possible, thus no troops left behind in iraq. how we handle the situation in libya. how we are now handling the situation in syria. there is a stalemate in syria. the rebels do not have enough forces and they do not have enough supplies to sustain major combat operations to seize
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damascus, and as long as bashar al-assad has had air sue preliminary macy, in other words his fighter airplanes and helicopter gun ships, they are going to maintain an upper hand for some time to come. the sad thing, bill, is that the casualties will rise during this period of stalemate, because the mighting is going to continue during this period. right now it's at 60,000 dead, it will probably climb to well in excess of a hundred thousand as the world continues to watch this. bill: i thought the bashar al-assad speech was a signal that his side is winning and that's why he went public for the first time in weeks, if not months. back to the issue of president obama, you believe he wants to be disengaged from the events of the middle east? explain that. >> well, i think -- i think he looked at the war in iraq and the war in afghanistan and said never again wars in the middle east. as a result of that his policy has been very timid. and we've walked away from many of our friends in the middle
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east as a reuflt it. i've never seen the level of frustration with america with our friends in the middle east that is present there now. bill: really. >> the strategic surprise that obama has had, much like bush had 9/11 and clinton had malosovich, his strategic surprising is the arab spring and the revolutionary change that is sweeping across the middle east. we have decided to sort of sit on the fence and watch it. the cad rals, why they are not the reason for the change, they are not the catalyst for it they are all in and trying to take advantage of it. and power shifts are taking place as a result of it. as the united states does not take an active role and stands back and watches this unfold pause we do not want to be involved in potential conflict. bill: a lot of that is behind us now, and we can't reverse the course that has already been set, but we might be able to influence what is coming our way now.
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what should we do? >> well, i would hope that the new national security team will reassess our policy in the middle east, and see if that is actually work, and talk to our allies in the region, and i think they would get an ear full about some of the things that we can do. clearly the rise of radical islam and al-qaida is not in the interest of the stable nations in the middle east, it's not in our national interest as well. out of those regimes and bases will grow very aggressive behavior for the region and for outside the region as well. and the other thing looming on the horizon for this national security team is iran, and the decisions that will have to be made about iran this year. either the iranians stop the development of nuclear republicans and if that does not take place i think bee ca we can all make an assumption that the israelis will do something about it. bill: this year.
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thank you. if all approved they will all have a lot of responsibility, not just here but around the world in every corner that you can find today. jack keane, thanks, in washington. >> take care, bill, have a good day. bill: you as well, martha. martha: on dangerously thin ice, the daring rescue after a woman falls into an icy river. bill: also this had to hurt for not just him but every red skin fan across the country. griffin the third, the coach who kept him in the game. the snap heard around the nfl. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?
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martha: there is a key court hearing in the colorado movie house massacre that is about to get underway. the prosecution will outline their case against james holmes the accused shooter in the killing of 12 people in aurora, colorado. alicia acuna is live from the courthouse. we are about to hear more about this case than we have ever heard before, right? >> reporter: that's right, martha, the family members and victims who will be in the courtroom today have already been warned that what will be presented in the courtroom will likely be very difficult for them to hear and see, including the possibility of the 911 tapes that were made from inside the theater, as well as videos taken from inside. this is the prosecution's opportunity to show a timeline of the shooting. but something different will happen in this preliminary hearing. james holmes defense team says it will call witnesses to the stand, something usually
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reserved for the prosecution. legal observers say this is the first big step in laying out what will likely be an insanity defense. >> what will they do? they will highlight things about james holmes that make him seem crazy, because that's their only defense in this case. it's not a who done it, we know who did it. we know it was premeditated, that's a dozen counts of first-degree murder. >> reporter: the hearing gets underway at the top of the hour, martha, and the courthouse is already packed. the judge has reserved the largest courtroom available. in addition to two other overflow courtrooms for family members, the media and the public. martha. martha: this is unusual this proceeding. he's blocked out the entire week for this part of the process, that is not really regular procedure, is it? >> reporter: it's not. the standard in colorado for a preliminary hearing is less than an hour, but there is little about there case that is average. for starters there are 12 murder
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victims here with multiple charges for each, plus the 58 people injured. the prosecution team has a checklist of items it must go through. there is a tremendous amount of evidence. there is always a possible peult that there will be a plea agreement at any time. there is a new district attorney that will be sworn in later today, he decides whether this becomes a death penalty case. i also want to mention the amount of security here at the courthouse. we've seen it for every hearing. there are snipers on two buildings behind me. there are vans and a lot of security blocking off the entire area. martha. martha: all right. we'll be watching. thank you very much. bill: there is outrage in a small ohio town over the alleged rape of a teenage girl by members of a high school football team. >> it's a shame. it's going to come out. it's going to be due process. if the kids are guilty they are going to get what they have to get. this is totally -- this is insane. bill: why is the county sheriff under fire by so many?
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and what the attorney for one ever the accuseone of the accused has to say about that. martha: a massive explosion levels a home. take a look at that damage. >> i was just sitting in my living room and an enormous explosion happened. i seen a yellow flash of light and a sonic boom and crashes, and all kinds of debris flew out. oh!
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martha: fox news alert now, a
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terror suspect accused of trying to blow up the new york city subway system is in court today for the first time. police say the 26-year-old is an alleged al-qaida operative and he's accused of planning the attacks to coincide with the 8th anniversary of september 11th a few years back. rick leventhal is live at the u.s. district court in brooklyn, new york. what do we know about the suspect? >> reporter: martha he's a 26-year-old originally from pakistan who moved to the uk on a student advice a. he was originally arrested back in 2009 for an alleged plot to bomb a shopping center in manchester, england. he was released for lack of evidence but remained on the f.b.i.'s radar and was rearrested an extra dieted here to the u.s. last week when his name surface ned this other investigation into a foiled suicide bombing attack on the new york city subway system. his first appearance is here inside federal court at 2:00 this afternoon, and if convicted on these charges he faces up to
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life in prison, martha. martha: rick, he is not the first one in this plot to face charges, is he? >> reporter: no, actually he is the 8th defendant to face charges here in brooklyn on that foiled subway bombing plot in new york city. you may remember one of his alleged coconspirators who pled guilty back in 2010. he and others were communicating with a shadowy al-qaida leader in pakistan using code words like wedding, and marriage to refer to the subway pwo*plg, e-mailing things like the marriage is ready. well that plot ended when police stopped his car on the way into new york city. the u.s. attorney says that nasir and zazi were using the same language and communicating with this same shadowy al-qaida leader and that allowed them to bring charges here in new york. martha: big case and very glad that was foiled, one of many. thank you very much.
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bill: this is a story where the outrage has grown in an ohio town where a sheriff is under fire for his handling of a high school rape investigation. two steubenville high school football players have been arrested on an attack on a 16-year-old girl from last august. protestors have converged on the small town near the pennsylvania border saying the shiver is protect being the football team and more people should be charged. the sheriff denies the allegations and said this about the demonstrators. >> when they come into the county i have respect for them, i thought their cause was right. they felt there was some injustice going on, they have a right to stand up for that. but when you cross the line and start a character assassination they've lost their mission. bill: that is fred abdala the sheriff, and this is walter madison the attorney for one of at cuesed players.
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thank you for your time today and good morning to you from cleveland, ohio. were there others involved other than just the two that have been charged? >> there were -- there's a few things that just really need to be set straight in terms of the facts that everyone should be able to understand. this video, this repugnant video from the commentator depicted makes these rants that really incite the nation are opinions and are reduced to his expression, his form of expression, and they are not criminal. i believe that the release of that video through social media has really caused an atmosphere that is unfair and coercive. the sheriff of the county has reported that there are people walking around this county and city streets of staoub inchville with masks, intimidating
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individuals. threatening people on the website if they want to participate or choose to participate. there are witnesses that are reluctant to come forward. bill: the video we are talking about, as a network we have decide he not to show it. it shows the 16-year-old victim being taken away by her wrists and ankles fully clothed at this marty or gathering in early august. back to the question, are there just two men involved here, or were there others? >> there are two men charged. there are others who were i guess interviewed and granted immunity, if you will by the attorney general's office. so for whatever reasons they chose to do that i can't explain. i'm not a prosecuting authority. bill: let me get to a more direct question. what the people at this rally charge the sheriff of doing, and by the way we've reached out to him in his office, we are waiting to hear back and i'll bring you a little bit about what he has said already. either been very public about this. he's not hiding anywhere. the allegation is that he's covering up for the football
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team. do you believe that to be the case or not? >> i have no -- i can't comment on that. i don't believe there is a cover up. i don't see it. i see a charge, i see my client, who, this video has nothing to do w. it's a form of soupb son one opens expression, as repugnant as it is. if you put the two images together these two people were present and that continue be farther from the truth of the facts in this case. there is reasons why these things aren't released to the public because of its inflammatory nature. and there are reasons why this won't be admissible in court, because it's legally irrelevant. bill: i see, okay. we will watch for that. but both of the accused of age 16. you mentioned one, the other is trenton mace. do you expect new charges either
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against these two men or others? >> no, actually there were more charges originally and they've been dismissed because they nailed to meet a very low standard in ohio of probable cause, and they failed. so as this case progresses i think the inflammatory nature of what we all learned in the beginning settles, and we are hopefully in a position where we can fairly deal with the evidence and the facts and come up with an adjudication in a court of law new want a change of venue. can you win on that argument? >> well, i don't know if i can win or not. i don't make that decision. all i can do is insure that malik richmond gets a fair opportunity. when there is an atmosphere where witnesses are reluctant to come forward that would assist in that fact-finding process for fear of being os tr being ostracized, painted as a villan for their future jeopardized i think a fair trial is completely destroyed.
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one remedy that the system allows for is to change venue. the system can protect itself and we ought to support that. bill: you heard what the sheriff said. the sheriff believes people have made up their minds already. in a case like this who would want to cover up any of this. he's talking about going back and having to reinterest due 59 different witnesses that the police department has already done. he's made the decision not to do that. for the time being it is your client and one other young man accused sir. we're going to watch this story. thank you, sir, walter madison is the attorney for one of the accused out of cleveland, hive today. thank you. 22 minutes before the hour, it's getting hot by the week, the story in staou steubenville. martha: you have to thread lightly with the lives of these two 16 years old, and take it one step of a time. social media has changed the tone of this investigation there is no doubt. we will keep an eye on the story.
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this for you this morning the search for a missing skydiver in washington state has now been called off. officials say that the air search will continue. 29-year-old kurt rupert was last seen on thursday when this is friends say they were all taking turns jumping out of a helicopter above washington's cascade foothills. despite narrowing their search crews say it could be hard to spot rupert was his wing suit pwhrepbldz into the terrain and allows him to travel short disanswers in a short time. bill: after years of denials is lance armstrong ready to confess? and if he confesses to what? why he may be considering coming clean and what it might mean for his career. we'll have that for you. martha: a heroic rescue after a woman falls into an icy river in a very hard to reach spot. watch this. >> i'm surprised they -- they weren't struggling after a half hour, trying to gain the surface of the ice. that's a risk there, because
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bill: central ohio, an explosion leveling a vacant home, damaging five others. debris all tharpls at that remains at a madison township house. here is a neighbor describing what he heard. >> i thought we were having an earthquake. that's what it felt like. >> twaeus up againsit was up against that wall, it knocked the refrigerator over he didn't get injured. bill: investigators are trying to figure out what caused the blast that thaobg out fiv took out five homes. martha: forget the future defense secretary or the debt limit debate the real conversation today in the nation's capitol this morning centers on one precarious knee and the future of a young star after this controversial play. watch this.
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he went down, robert griffin the iii. redskins fans questioning the coach eave went down in those final minutes of the playoff game after his already injured knee gave way, you can see it again there, as he tumbles to the left of your screen. we bring in jim gray, sportscaster of course and a fox news contributor. jim, good morning, good to have you here. >> martha, good to be with you. martha: a lot of talk this morning about mike shanahan. he was a two-time winning coach with the broncos. he allowed him to continue to play. griffin said he was hurt but he wasn't injured. what do you think? >> i think that's probably exactly what he told the coach during the game that he wanted to continue, and you know there is such bravado and guys want to stay in the game, and robert griffin the iii was given the opportunity to stay in the game, he felt he did put himself as
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risk but he felt his teammates needed him. the the decision should not be made by him. that's why they have all the doctors on the sidelines. they are experienced seeing these guys. it shouldn't have been up to him. he probably will have to have some sort of surgery this off season. it's a shame. he was so magical this season and he went down like a warrior, but probably should not have been in the game at that time. martha: every player is going to want to play, right? what is the responsibility of the coach is one of of the big questions here. should he be thinking more long term and saying, you know, no, we know the knee has been injured already and you need to sit out? >> probably don't think long term when they are trying to chase a super bowl right now, everybody is in it for the moment and the men taplt of thesmentality of these case which they've tried to change with all the concussions and things that have gone on throughout the year is very,
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very difficult to change. and robert griffin the iii wanted to help his team, you can't blame him for that. it should not be in his hands. you just hope that at some point these guys will recognize that they are not helping their taoefplt as much as they do when they are playing at their fullest peak and at the level that we grow accustomed to seeing them, when they get injured they can't do it. martha: the term take one for the team may mean in some cases sitting down. as you say he was anxious to play, it was a big moment for the team, he's had an incredible run this season. we wish him well. maybe he's okay. he walked off-the-field. maybe that injury can be healed rather quickly, we'll see. we also want to get your thoughts on another big sports story today, jim. that is the speculation first surfaced in "the new york times" on saturday that lance armstrong maybe considering coming forward with an admission of guilt to doping. what do you think about all this?
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>> well, i think it would be much, much, much to little and far, far, far too late but there would be reasons that he would want to do this. he would like to compete again in triathlons, and marathons. people who have come forward and given information to the authorities have been not able to clear their conscience, if that's possible for lance armstrong after all this time. they get to be able to help. they answer how did you beat the system, how did you cheat for so long. nobody was able to detect it. what did you do, did you payoff people, did you take bribes? how did you do it? there are a lot of answers that the investigators would like. there is a benefit. people who have had these lifetime bans or significant bans have been able to get them reduced by three-quarters of the time. i can't imagine that lance armstrong, obviously he's not going to race again in cycling, he would be too old no matter what the baines. he wants to get on with his life and he's done such great work
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with cancer, they are begging him, hoping that he will do this so that that foundation can get back on its feet. martha: i could imagine a scenario where he comes out where he talks at least in this sense he would get to sort of represent and craft truth i guess. certainly if it's true he wasn't able to do that in the past. maybe he wants to do that now. it's possible. >> he tried to silence home people for so long an was so ruthless in the way that he went about it, and it just seems to me that, you know, he wants to be admired and respected but he's done so much damage to himself, this one is going to be hard to retrieve. we are a for giving nation, and people do want to move on with their lights. i can understand where lance would want to move on this his. i don't really have a good comparison but the best thing i can think of is richard nixon was buried a hero, he destroyed our faith in government, i would th the american public and people could get over lance
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armstrong using performance-enhancing drugs or blood doping. martha: we've seen in the past that people are hugely for giving in this country and there is always that possibility. jim, thank you so much. we will see you soon. >> martha good to be with you. bill: he's helped a lot of people along the way. this rg3 thing -- martha: oh, my gosh. bill: the team doctor sailed he wasn't given access to him. he's on record saying according to u.s.a. today the head coach said twice. martha: he was not cleared to play. bill: he said the doctors gave me the thumbs up two times. martha: there could be a lot of different stories about how that went down. bill: mri's today. jon scott is healthy and ed up and ready for a whole new week. jon: you know who the number one seed is in the afc and nfc, denver broncos, just to help you out there. bill: baltimore at denver next
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week. jon: we are awaiting a personnel announcement from the white house. we are expecting to hear the president's picks for defense secretary and head of the cia. we have a preview and very strong opinions from guests, including brett stevens, peter brooks, mark dubowitz and general scales. our legal panel weighs in on a preliminary hearing for colorado theater massacre suspect james holmes, all ahead happening now. bill: thank you, jon. and good luck to your broncos. jon: thank you, i appreciate that. bill: tpwreu evening document dumps are a washington tradition. why some details released late on friday afternoon just this mast week concerning the president's second inauguration raising serious concerns. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]
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martha: here is a story for, a daring rescue in ohio after a woman fell into a frozen river. she clung to the ice she said for more than an hour. eventually the rescue team was able to reach her, thank goodness and they pulled her out of the water. by that time police say she was severely hyperthermic and unresponsive shaoefplt was breathing. look at this. her condition is unknown right now. we do not have a word on how she ended up in the water, but they did the best they could, those guys and we wish them well. bill: a lot going on in ohio today. a list of donors at president obama's second inauguration were quietly released on friday evening revealing names of big corporations that are already raising eyebrows. adam spa pirro fox business network has had a look at the
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list, what is this all about. >> reporter: in 2009 the inauguration committee not only released the names of corporations, there were no corporations, the president actually had said no corporate donation, but he released the names of people and who employed them. so when bill and melinda gates donated we knew that their 50,000-dollar donation was from their microsoft fortune. when steve balmer the vceo donated money in 2009 we knew it was coming from someone who works at microsoft. this time around no information other than names. we do know that microsoft and at&t have donate thed time around. the president has removed the ban on corporate donations and you can make unlimited donations, over 50,000, a hundred thourbgs it's unlimited. there is a lot less transparent seat. the center for responsive politics is upset about this. they spoke to me earlier, they said quote they are disappointed when political organizations move towards less disclosure and that's what we've got here,
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bill. bill: what are some of the corporate names. >> at&t, microsoft, scream line circle, financial innovations, just a few corporations so far have donated. but we don't know how much they've donated. i've reached out to the committee. i've called microsoft, i've called at&t asking them if they would publicly say how much has been doe nature. they will have to report how much was donated 90 days after the inauguration. government watch dogs want that number immediately. they want to know beforehand to find out who is playing ball with the president. bill: we'll watch this two weeks away. thank you, adam shapiro, fox business network on that. martha: a california man trying to overturn a recent supreme court decision defining corporationses as people. he say he may have found the answer in the carpool lane. what is that about? we'll tell you when we come bac.
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letters backzv nearly 50 years late$) the letters:x)ere taken from lloydzv and mary michael'szv home back in theç 1960s. they wrote to eachç other whileç lloyd served in world warç ii.u!ympç martha: her waiting for him to come back home from the war. welcome back. thank you, like riding a bike. isn't it. >> down the road. see you soon. "happening now" starts right now.
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>> brand knew stories and breaking news. jon: there are members of both parties who are not too happy about the president's pick. why all the controversy? gun control debate heating up. what the white house is now considering. do you know all the health risks of being obese? new poll shows americans are pretty much in the dark when it comes to dangers of being overweight. we'll lay out the problems caused by all the extra pounds all "happening now." good morning morninging to you. there is controversy over the president's plans picks over his national security team. i'm john scoot. jenna: i'm jenna lee. we're awaiting a big announcement from the president as the commander-in-chief gets ready to nominate former senator chuck hagel for defense secretary. hagel faces tough criticism
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from members of his own party over his stands on israel and iran. he is not only controversial pick we'll hear about. the president expected to tab counter terrorism advisor john brennan to lead the cia. brennan, you may remember, withdrew his name for consideration from the very same job years before amid questions about his connections to the tough interrogation techniques used during the bush administration. national security correspondent jennifer griffin live at the white house with more. jennifer, how has brennan been positioning himself since the first consideration until now. >> reporter: as you mentioned, jenna, back in 2008 he was considered the president's pick for cia director. that is when john brennan pulled his name out of that nomination process, worried that it would be too grueling a nomination process because of his involvement in certain controversial bush era practices such as the controversial enhanced

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